Fact-checking Eric Schmitt's Hawks vs. Hawkeyes basketball mix-up involving Caitlin Clark

Fact-checking Eric Schmitt’s Hawks vs. Hawkeyes basketball mix-up involving Caitlin Clark originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Caitlin Clark was a must-see talent in 2024. Trae Young, while an impressive player when healthy, probably was not.

If that doesn’t make sense to you, it didn’t make sense to U.S. attorney Jack Smith, either.

Smith, who spent more than two years as a Department of Justice special counsel investigating then-former president Donald Trump, was the subject of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday when a line of questioning from U.S. senator Eric Schmitt turned into basketball talk.

Here’s a look at the viral mix-up.

MORE:Caitlin Clark admits to throwing up ‘everything in my stomach’ during playoff game

Eric Schmitt’s Hawks vs. Hawkeyes basketball mix-up

In an attempt to tie Smith to the separate investigation into Trump spearheaded by Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis, Schmitt said he possessed texts proving the former special counsel was in Atlanta in early February 2024.

“What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors-Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024, the day after Willis and [former special prosecutor Nathan Wade] announced their affair?” Schmitt asked.

Smith, confused, denied that he was ever at an Atlanta Hawks game. As it turns out, the texts mentioning a team named the “Hawks” were actually referring to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

A phenomenal moment in the Senate.

Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., claims he has evidence Jack Smith went to a HAWKS game in Atlanta.

Smith denies it.

Schmitt declares he has busted Jack Smith for perjury.

Smith, vexed, says he went to HAWKEYES game in Maryland.

Watch the whole thing: pic.twitter.com/J07o5Uwfxi

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) September 29, 2026

Here’s what you need to know about the game Smith actually did attend.

MORE: A’ja Wilson gets technical fan after altercation with Fever fan

Which game did Jack Smith attend?

Smith was at a Hawks game on Feb. 3, 2024, but it was the Hawkeyes of Iowa playing Maryland on the road in College Park.

After he reviewed the evidence, the errant line of questioning started to click for Smith, who recalled that he was at the Iowa-Maryland game on that day.

After the snafu, Schmitt, who represents Missouri, said he accepts that Smith is a “Caitlin Clark fan.”

“That’s what these hearings are for. You ask questions, you get answers,” Schmitt said. “You know, Jack Smith has perjured himself before, but if he says he’s at the game, maybe he’s a Caitlin Clark fan. We’ll accept that.”

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Maryland women’s basketball game

If Smith wanted to see Clark at her best, he was rewarded. Then a senior for the Hawkeyes, Clark scored 38 points and recorded 12 assists in a 93-85 road win over Maryland. Iowa jumped out to a 14-point lead by halftime and staved off a late push by the Terrapins.

Some internet sleuths found proof Smith was in College Park for the game:

I went through the broadcast of the Iowa/Maryland game on 2/3/24. A replay of Clark’s first 3 shows Jack Smith sitting in Section 109, Row 1.
Yet, @SenEricSchmitt is taking a victory lap on right wing media. I blocked the faces of who appear to be his family @kmoxnews
🎥(Fox) https://t.co/vPLWKwCj3Qpic.twitter.com/EFSafMA6DU

— Sean Malone (@SMalone27) September 29, 2026

The game was listed as a sellout with 17,950 fans, so Smith was one of many who showed up to see women’s college basketball’s best player.

MORE: 8 seeds to beat a 1 seed in WNBA history

Atlanta Hawks Feb. 3, 2024 game

The Atlanta Hawks also played on Feb. 3, 2024, with or without Smith in the building.

Smith might not have been there, but Stephen Curry certainly was. Curry scored 60 points as the Warriors took on the Hawks, shooting 22-of-38 from the field in one of the highest-scoring games of his career.

Curry’s brilliance wasn’t enough. The Hawks scored 141 points, winning 141-134 with 35 points from Trae Young, 22 off the bench from Onyeka Okongwu and a near triple-double by Jalen Johnson. It’s understandable that Smith would want to see Clark play, but he could’ve seen some pretty entertaining basketball in Atlanta, too.